Summary: Lobo doesn't lead "lambs to the slaughter" -- he brings the slaughter to the lambs!Bonus Summary Pun: "Double or Mutton"!

Let’s begin with an abbreviated version of my “stock
introduction” to Lobo, for the few who may be unfamiliar with him:

Lobo is the most feared
bounty hunter in all of Space. Armed with a massive hook and chain, and riding
a souped-up “space bike”, he is the scourge of wanted men (or beasts) throughout the cosmos. He is the self-proclaimed “Main Man”!

He’s even given Superman his share
of trouble.And, as Lobo told us in his
animated debut:“I can do trouble!”

With a cursory resemblance to the members of
the rock band KISS and the fashion sense of the WWE, he possesses the requisite
measure of strength and invulnerability, is ruthless in the pursuit of his
quarry or his goals, yet lives by an unusually strong, but quirky, “code of
honor”.

…And, no one “frags a
bastich” quite like Lobo!

Now, on with the fraggin’
show!

“What I Did on My
Holiday”.22 pages.

Click to enlarge on all comic pages!

On some far-off world, a
class of alien high school students has just returned from their summer
vacation.Note the student population:

A “Charlie Brown
Shirt-Wearer” is cut off at the extreme left.Middle / right is a “Betty Boop-like kid” and to the far upper right is
a “Bazooka Joe-kinda kid” sans eye patch.

But our main focus, sitting
right up front as you’d expect him to, is “Cecil B. Geecky”, looking for all
the world like a purple alien version of “Cleveland Brown, Jr.”, from the THE CLEVELAND SHOW.This is all the more odd, because FAMILY GUY
had not yet made its debut.Sometimes,
coincidences just happen!

Cecil tells the story of his
purple alien family’s vacation trip to “…The exciting new theme park --Sheepworld”,
where loose sheep abound, and all the attractions are based on (You guessed it!) sheep, including the park’s main draw; “The
Hall of Sheep Fame”!

How did they ever fail to put
a smaller sign under “Hall of Sheep Fame” that says “Fame is Bleating”?!

Oh, well… I didn’t write (or
dialogue) it, though I’d LOVE a shot at LOBO someday. It’s the only DC comic I feel I could really
do well with! But, I digress…Meanwhile, Lobo, partnered
with an attractive female bounty hunter, is on the trail of the four members of
“The Shapeshifter Gang”.The gang has
eluded their pursuers, and fled to (You guessed it, again!) Sheepworld.

"The Shapeshifter Gang" -- Looks like The Ghostly Trio, Plus One!

As expected, Lobo frags a
number of sheep while trying to “out” the shapeshifters, which he eventually
does, but not without raining much carnage upon the park and its visitors,
leaving young Cecil B. Geecky with one heck of a vacation story to tell his class!

A tale to tell the class!

Also, as expected in a Lobo
story, events do not end there for poor Master Cecil… Oh, but we try not to “spoil” in
these reviews!

Lobo sez: "NO SPOILERS, ya Bastich!

Ah, but one thing we DO in these reviews, is break things
into CONS and PROS.

The CONS:

The Story Title:Ever
since my brief turn at professionally scripting Disney comic books, I
can’t help but look at certain things in comics and imagine how *I’d* do
‘em!One of my favorite things to do was
to create TITLES for the stories I scripted – and, instead of the Way-Too-Generic-for-LOBO “What I Did on My Holiday”, I’d have called
this one:“Baa-Baa Frag Sheep!”

…And I still like “Fame is
Bleating”, too!So sue (or frag)
me!

Comics DC Wants Us to Buy
(Advertised in This Issue):Anyone
remember this?If not, consider yourselves
lucky to have avoided this cheap stunt… I wish *I* had!

“You Know the Names.But You Don’t Know the Secrets of – TANGENT
COMICS.The biggest names in comics in
nine world-shaking specials.Raising the
stakes this July.”

Yep!It’s all of the classic DC character NAMES,
with new meaningless one-shot characters created around them.“Superman”, “The Batman”, “Wonder Woman”,
etc.Unfortunately, in the nineties and if they were from DC, I bought ‘em all… when there were some things I shoulda
skipped.

No 'Bo! Leave the REAL Superman alone!

Go after this POSER, instead!

The PROS:

It’s LOBO:Lobo might have been my most favorite DC
title of the nineties – and, given DC’s great quality with the Superman and
Batman lines of the time, that’s really saying something!Lobo was FUNNY (albeit in a violent, sometimes
sick sorta way) – and “FUNNY” is something that is missing from today’s DC
Comics, and comic books in general.

It’s LOBO written by Alan
Grant:Alan Grant came out of the
wonderful British comics publication 2000 AD, where he wrote the humorous-but-violent
feature JUDGE DREDD, first partnered with DREDD’s regular writer John Wagner
and then on his own.

Grant moved to the States,
and to DC Comics, where he was a mainstay on Batman titles (notably, DETECTIVE
COMICS and BATMAN:
SHADOW OF THE BAT) and supplanted Lobo’s
creator Keith Giffen as my personal favorite of Lobo’s writers.

Detective Comics # 604 written by Alan Grant

Alan Grant brought with him from 2000 AD a
sense of superbly cinematic, over-the-top, explosive violence, and a bizarrely
humorous vision that fit perfectly with Lobo.
Grant wrote pretty much the entire nineties LOBO regular series, which
remains one of my best comic-book memories of the nineties.

LOBO # 25 written by Alan Grant

It’s DC Comics, of the
Nineties:In the nineties, as opposed to
today, DC Comics could do no wrong.(Okay, maybe not useless gimmicks like “Tangent” – but MOSTLY “no
wrong”!)I’d extend this streak back
into the eighties.Even their seventies comics
were “okay”, if less distinguished, but that was a lesser period for most
publishers.

Never mind DC’s landmark accomplishments of the Silver Age,
which pretty much BECAME the cornerstone for mainstream comic books ever
since.

DC Comics Silver Age Logo.

Such a pity, DC lost its way
(and lost ME) in the 21st Century.With the
departure of President and Editor-in-Chief Jenette Khan and Executive VP and Publisher
Paul Levitz, DC Comics was never the same.But, they sure were great BACK
THEN, and for most of their long
and illustrious history!

DC Comics Logo - when they were best!

Comics DC Wants Us to Buy (Also Advertised in This Issue):“DC One Million”:“Witness the ultimate vision of the DC
Universe.From the minds of Grant
Morrison and Val Semeiks.”

Unlike “Tangent”, this actually
WAS worth buying!Imagine if all
then-present DC Comics series reached their “One Millionth Issue” – in the same
month (!), and all in one good interconnecting
story set in the far future of the DC Universe!Um, we’ll just ignore the fact
that ACTION and DETECTIVE COMICS would reach that impossible milestone well
over a half-century before LOBO would – and just enjoy the story.Grant Morrison was DC’s most innovative
writer of the decade, and virtually anything he touched turned to gold.“DC One Million” was no exception.

Oh, and
with DC restarting all their titles in 2011, as part of their “New 52” stunt, I
suppose the timetable for “One-Millionth-numbered” DC titles has been
pushed-back further than ever!Though it
DOES markedly increase the possibility of the titles reaching “Issue Number One
Million” all at the SAME TIME, so maybe Grant Morrison was more prophetic than I ever
imagined!

Maybe they REALLY DID come out on the same day, after all!

Gag Creator Credits:A hallmark of the LOBO title were “Gag
Creator Credits” that were, in some way tied into the subject matter of the
story – much as the credits on each year’s SIMPSONS “Treehouse of Horror” jokingly tie into Halloween.As our story was “sheep-themed”, we were treated to such credits
as:Script: “F. Ewe Grant” (Alan Grant),
Pencils: “Aries Jorgensen” (Arnie Jorgensen), Assoc. Ed: “Tony Baadaard” (Tony
Bedard – GOTTA love THAT one!), and Editor: “Bad Dan Ramsbottom” (Bad Dan
Raspler).

Bonus Bottom-Tier Comic
Strip:Later in its run, LOBO developed
yet another stylistic quirk that was never seen in another comic book title – a
“Bonus Bottom-Tier Comic Strip”.Like
the gag credits, the subject matter of the strip, running at the bottom of various story pages, hooked into an aspect of the subject
of our story.Here, we had examples of taken from the aforementioned “Hall of Sheep Fame”,
strewn across the lower tier of several story pages.Here’s an example or two…

Letter Columns:Once upon a time, comic books had Letter
Columns, in which readers who were able to express themselves with writing
skills in excess of the minimum requirements necessary for a “text” or a
“tweet”, would partake in an exchange with the book’s editor (or one of his or
her assistants).Published comments were
almost always both intelligent and fun.

LOBO had a rather unique
letter column, in that it was conducted by Lobo himself.You addressed Lobo and, in his inimitable
way, he would wise-off back at you.I
was once a regular in the LOBO Letter Column and at least one of those
exchanges (in response to a particular “Bonus
Bottom-Tier Comic Strip”) is worthy of a Blog post of its own.I’ll put it up someday.

Delivering letters to LOBO?

Oddly, the only other two comic book letter
columns that were conducted by their “host characters” (of which I am aware) were DC’s GUY GARDNER, and (believe it or not)
Disney Comics’ GOOFY ADVENTURES.So,
yes… Over the years I’ve exchanged written words with Lobo, Guy Gardner, and
Goofy!…Funny, how they never leave comments on
my Blog.

They NEVER CALL. They NEVER WRITE... or COMMENT!

The Word “Bastich”:A sort of pseudo-curse word, which sounds
like a more well-known actual one, was Lobo’s term for anyone he didn’t
like.“Bastich”, along with “frag”,
became catchphrases (okay, more catch-WORDS, than “phrases”) for Lobo to the point
where their use became almost smile-inducing to Lobo’s readers.Indeed, in Lobo’s letter columns, it was somewhat
of an honor to be called a “Bastich”.

OVERALL:

Lobo, as a character, and as a comic book series, is not for
everyone.No one will ever confuse LOBO
with (oh, say…)
“My Little Pony: Friendship
is Magic” – though “Frag-ship is Magic” does have some potential!Not to mention “The Mane Man!”(I’ve got one very close friend out there
whom I know will appreciate this pony bit! Apologies to the rest of you!)

LOBO # 55 is a “middling”
issue, as they go, and close to the (alas) end of the run of 66 issues.But it is great fun.Rapid-Fire Sheep Pun Closing
Alert: This is no “sheep” trick.You “wool” trust me on this, won’t
“ewe”?For the “shear” delight of it
all, grab a copy of LOBO # 55 before somebody “bleats” you to it – and all you
can say is “Baaa!Humbug!”

Friday, September 27, 2013

Thanks to DAFFY DUCK, we’re on a real roll with Comic Book
Reviews here at TIAH BLOG!

Merrily I (and my comics) roll along! Woo-Woo!

And, with New York Comic Con, “coming to an Island of
Manhattan near you” in little more than a week and an half, why not continue
the comic reviews!

In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever had two consecutive comic
reviews since we began this Blog… and if we count “Teaser Posts” like this one
we still won’t.

Is Lobo "teasing you" with a song?

Be that as it may, let’s mark the week running up to New
York Comic Con week with a review of a totally random issue of LOBO that I
pulled out of the stack! They’re ALL
great so, no matter which one I review, we’ll have a good time.

Could it be this one?

See you in three days for Main Man Monday! ...Or, just click on the link in the paragraph above.

Though actually released in November, 1963, DAFFY DUCK # 36
is still considered to be at the very start of the amazing “Prime Period” for
Gold Key Comics, which ran from 1964 thru 1966.More about that – and Gold Key Comics as a whole – can be found in THIS POST.

The DAFFY DUCK comic book series, from both Dell Comics as
well as Gold Key, was most often written by the great Warner Bros. (and later
Hanna-Barbera) cartoon writer Michael Maltese and drawn by Warner Bros.
animator Phil DeLara.

Too "late" for the "early" Daffy!

The comic book Daffy Duck came along a bit too late to
reflect the truly “daffy” (lower case “d”) duck of the early Tex Avery and Bob
Clampett cartoons, yet never adopted the transition to the “egotistical greedy
coward” of the later Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng years.Nor was he the fast-talking huckster of
Robert McKimson’s shorts.

I may be a "fast-talking huckster", but I'm a GREEEEDY "fast-talking huckster"!

Instead, the comics Daffy remained squarely within the middle
ground between zany and villainous, serving more as a pesky moocher and
irritant, or all-purpose quarry, than anything else.

Not too HOT, not too COLD... but JUUUST RIGHT! Woo-Woo!

The formula was successful, insofar as he (and we readers)
enjoyed many mooching misadventures with Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam and, for a
while, was pursued by an unnamed fox (reflecting the Arthur Davis directed cartoon “What Makes Daffy Duck”, 1948) and later
by the Tasmanian Devil.

Say... What DOES make Daffy "duck"?

...Perhaps, Arthur Davis knows!

...Me not know!

Unlike most Dell and Gold Key comics, DAFFY DUCK did not
begin with a long “adventure lead” story, as did similar comics like THIS ISSUE of PORKY PIG, and also THIS ONE.Shorter
gag stories made up the book for the entirety of the Dell and Gold Key
runs.

﻿

If you're lookin' for SHORT GAGS, you GOT 'EM, Fat-stuff!

And, one thing I failed to mention in my lengthy Gold Key
Comics post was that the DAFFY DUCK title – and ONLY the DAFFY DUCK title –
exhibited a particular stylistic quirk:Gaggy titles (presumably courtesy of writer Maltese) in large lettering,
that would take up THREE FOURTHS of the left side of the opening splash panel
of each story!

No other Gold Key title did this, making DAFFY DUCK a most
distinctive title, among an entire line of high-quality titles!This
practice began with the first Gold Key issue of the DAFFY DUCK title (# 31, 1962) and
ran thru # 40 (released in December, 1964).

DAFFY DUCK # 31

DAFFY DUCK # 40

After that, DAFFY DUCK ran mostly Dell reprints until issue
# 72, cover dated November, 1971, when new stories would resume (more or less)
until the end of the Gold Key / Whitman Comics period in 1984.

Dell DAFFY (no "DUCK"?) # 14

Gold Key Reprint: DAFFY DUCK # 41.

New stories resume in DAFFY DUCK # 72...

...Until "The Bitter End" DAFFY DUCK # 145.

DAFFY DUCK # 34, cover dated September, 1963, highlighted
this unusual graphic design aspect like no other issue.It pictured Daffy posting billboards that
were, in actuality, the splash pages of each Daffy Duck story in the
issue!Meta times five, I’d say!Click to enlarge for greater detail!

DAFFY DUCK # 34.

But, there’s one additional facet to DAFFY DUCK # 36 in
particular that makes it perhaps my most favorite issue of the run.It’s that each of the five comic stories
contained herein features one or more GUEST STARS from other Warner Bros.
cartoons.

So many GUEST STARS, it's like watching a DVD box set!

In the order presented, we have Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, the
Tasmanian Devil (not yet popularly known as “Taz”), Yosemite Sam, and
Foghorn Leghorn!Tweety and Sylvester
starred in a four-page “guest” story of their own, making this comic a singular
Warner Bros. Bonanza!

No, not THIS!

More like THIS!

I’ll never know if this star-studded line-up was assembled
by editorial design or if the stories just happened to fall that way by chance,
but such was not the norm for the DAFFY DUCK title.

Elmer (especially) and Sam were fixtures of
the title since the 1950s, and the Tasmanian Devil staked-out a regular corner
of the book, once his popularly took off as a result of his appearances on the
ABC prime-time BUGS BUNNY SHOW (1960-1962).

On with the show, This is it!

…And Taz did appear in one classic-era cartoon with Daffy: “Ducking the
Devil” (1957, directed by Robert McKimson) setting the precedent for his string
of early-to-mid-sixties appearances in DAFFY DUCK.

I'm "ducking - OUT!"

But, despite being one of the best comedy duos in perhaps
the history of animation (…and, if not all-time, CERTAINLY during the 1950s),
Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck rarely, if ever, appeared together in the Dell and
Gold Key comic books.

And, anything made
after the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies notwithstanding, Daffy and
Foghorn Leghorn shared the screen only once in “The High and the Flighty”(1955,
also directed by Robert McKimson).

There's that "fast-talking huckster" again! "Pipe Full of Fun Kit # 7" is on special today!

But, the gang’s all here and ready for action in DAFFY DUCK
# 36!

As is our custom in these reviews, we’ll break things into CONS
and PROS -- and some other aspects.

The CONS:

Can’t think of a single one!It’s from Gold Key’s Prime Period, after
all!...Be proud, Daffy! be proud!

The PROS:

Michael Maltese and
Phil DeLara:You can’t have a more
authentic “Warner Bros. Pedigree” than that, save editorial input by Chuck
Jones, Friz Freleng, or Robert McKimson!

Not even if Leon Schlesinger was publisher!

32 Pages, All Comics:No interior advertising!You
couldn’t ask more for your TWELVE CENTS!The interior and back covers had ads, but why quibble over that.Pay special attention to the inside front
cover ad, illustrated later in this post.

The Unusual Array of Guest Stars:Almost all the Big WB names you could ask
for!

This 2003 vintage comic was great...

...but THIS 1963 comic did it first!

Ironically, given their incessant pair-ups to come at the
end of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Meoldies era, Speedy Gonzales is absent from
the book.

So, tell me again why someone thought it was a good idea for you two to team up?

So are the Road Runner and
Wile E. Coyote, but they visited Daffy’s book very often during the
seventies.Even Merlin the Magic Mouse
had his comic book debut in the DAFFY DUCK title, starting in 1968.

DAFFY DUCK # 73 (Meep-Meep!)

Just what Daffy needs after Speedy - more mice!

If memory serves, Pepe LePew may have had only one “guest
story” in DAFFY DUCK over the years.I
suppose it’s a good thing that Elmer Fudd never shot Daffy’s beak off, while
some incredible confluence of events resulted in a WHITE STRIPE being painted
down Daffy’s back, setting up the typical “Pepe pursuit”!

Um, don't look now, but that MIGHT be Daffy!

Seriously, and on the other hand, for all the times they
paired-up on screen, Porky Pig rarely found himself in the DAFFY DUCK
title.Yet, he was a fixture in BUGS
BUNNY and, of course, his own title.Go
fig…

"I'm a f-f-fixture here!"

"...And h-h-here!"

The Unusual Graphic Style of This Title:As someone who loved creating my own titles
for the Disney comic book stories I scripted (“Now Museum, Now You Don’t”,
“Uncle Scrooge Meets the Synthezoid from the Deepest Void”, etc.), I really
enjoyed what this book tended to do with story titles.

Not only was each one a gag of its own, but
highlighted as NO other comic book ever did!I’d sure like to see a title of MINE, such as “A Game of One-Cupmanship”, given such a treatment!

“The Day Daffy and Bugs Bugged Elmer” (8 pg.):Daffy and Bugs hold a “mooching contest” to
see who can best “get the best” of Elmer Fudd.Daffy falls behind early, filching some food, as Bugs makes off with the
entire fridge!The Duck cons Elmer out
of his car, only to find that his Rabbit rival has already conned him out of
his garage, etc.The contest proceeds
apace, until someone takes that proverbial “one-step-too-far”, resulting in
disaster for all involved!

Oddly, Maltese appears to have written a similar contest
tale for Yogi Bear and Snagglepuss (the latter being a character he wrote exclusively
in animation) in Gold Key’s YOGI BEAR # 18.The ending was different and both were great takes on all the characters
involved.

(…Though Hokey Wolf was many
times the moocher Snagglepuss was, and would have been a natural for such a
story, I’ll assume Maltese merely felt a greater preference for Ol’ Snag.)

﻿

Pardon me... I'm looking for the contest between the Rabbit and the Duck!

What's the big idea? You don't look like Elmer Fudd... Or, do you?

You mean a Rabbit and a Duck did it first? Guess it's back to H-B, for me! Hey-hey-hee!

GOOD BIT:Daffy
challenges Bugs to their “mooching duel” by soundly slapping Bugs across the face
with a glove – with his HAND still INSIDE!“WHAP!”

BUGS: “Oww!You’re supposed to take the glove OFF when
you start a duel!”

DAFFY:“Well, I can’t remember ALL the fine
points!I duel so seldom these days!”

TAZ (Complies): “Grrrr!That better!Urk!”(Falls to the ground with a THUD!)

DAFFY (Amazed that worked):“I guess they play that game in
Tasmania, too!”

“A Duck Out of Water Can Get Dry” (7 pg.):Unable to pay his “dock charges”, because the
pirating business has been slow “…ever
since they started hauling gold in TRAINS!”, Yosemite Sam is forced to move
his pirate ship to Daffy’s home-swamp.Don’t
expect Daffy to take this lying down… or might that be “floating-face-down”?

GOOD BIT:Daffy and
Sam …er, “discuss” the matter.

DAFFY:“This is MY SWAMP, and you CAN’T DOCK HERE!”

SAM: “I’m STAYING!”

DAFFY:“You and WHO ELSE says so?”

SAM (Draws his cutlass):“Me and MY FRIEND, here!”

DAFFY (Retreating):“He’s got some PRETTY CONVINCING friends!”

Tweety and Sylvester:“A Bird Can Fly, but Can a Fly Bird?” (4 pg.):Sylvester abandons bird-chasing to become a
motorcycle hobbyist!However, Tweety, feeling ignored (!), gets the
notion in his “widdle head” to do some “cycle sabotage”.

“An Alarm Clock is a Rooster’s Best Friend” (6 pg.):Daffy covets Foghorn Leghorn’s “cushy” job as
a barnyard rooster – and schemes to get the position for himself.This is as close as the Dell and Gold Key
Comics Daffy comes to the “greedy underhanded persona” of his later animated
cartoons.

Oh, Daffy, you greedy and underhanded rascal!

GOOD BIT:Daffy encounters
some unexpected first-day difficulties on the “roostering” job.

A one page “text story” story of Little Pancho Vanilla
(adding one more WB animated character – albeit an esoteric one – to the mix)
and a one page Daffy and Elmer “hunting gag” round out the issue.

OTHER:

The Inside Front
Cover Ad:Check out the “Special Gold
Key Comics Christmas Offer”!Wow!Even if I didn’t celebrate Christmas, I’d
want most, if not all, of these!Click to Enlarge!

OVERALL:DAFFY DUCK #
36 is a special issue – even among a run of special issues!

The creators, barely removed from the legendary “Termite
Terrace” animation factory, and the guest stars that sprang from said factory,
come together to assemble one of the very best Warner Bros. comic books – if
not of all time, certainly of the Silver Age and beyond!

When actual Warner Bros. animation talent is involved, a closer
adherence to the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies we love is expected – and
delivered!

Duck Season! Rabbit Season! ...No, it's COMIC BOOK SEASON!

You can’t go wrong with DAFFY DUCK # 36.It’s one of those rare comic books about
which I can say: “If you read only ONE
ISSUE of this title, THIS is the one to read!”

I can only do my daredevil act "ONCE", by you can read this comic LOTSA times!

…Or, when you have a copy of DAFFY DUCK # 36, it’s ALWAYS
“Duck Season” – without that “You’re
despicable – beak shooting-off” part, that is!